NEWS & VIEWS|||SARASIJ|||28-10-2026

 

NEWS & VIEWS|||SARASIJ|||28-10-2026

WEDNESDAY| VOL—IV/2026/OCTOBER

OPINIONATED, FOR FREE CIRCULATION.

सत्यं ब्रूयात् प्रियं ब्रूयान्न ब्रूयात् सत्यमप्रियम् ।

प्रियं च नानृतं ब्रूयादेष धर्मः सनातनः ॥

Manusmriti (4.138)

"Speak the truth, speak pleasantly; do not speak an unpleasant truth, nor a pleasant falsehood. This is the eternal Dharma".

INDIA: (GOI, SWARAJYA, VISHWAMITRA, HINDU POST, INDIA TODAY).   TODAY IS CHOCOLATE DAY.

President Smt Droupadi Murmu has promulgated the Lakshadweep Tourism Trade (Registration, Safety and Facilitation) Regulation, 2026, making registration compulsory for lodging, water sports, tour guides, travel agents, digital booking platforms, and tourism vessels in the UT, with strict safety norms and heavy penalties for damage to fragile marine ecosystems

PM Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated the Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation Conclave (ESTIC) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi

The Centre has introduced a ‘Concessional Local Pass’ on national highways from 1 November for non-commercial vehicle owners living within 20 km of a toll plaza. With a valid FASTag, the annual pass costs ₹1,500 for plazas outside municipal limits and ₹3,000 for those within; it is valid only at that one plaza and is non-transferable.

DPIIT has launched the 6th edition of the National Startup Awards (NSA 6.0), with 20 sectoral categories (12 of them new), 3 special categories, a new Student Innovator Award, and a ₹25 lakh cash prize in eligible categories. Applications are open from 27 October to 20 November.   

The Rural Development Ministry is holding a two-day regional workshop under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana–Gramin (PMAY-G) in Lucknow (27–28 October), with about 150 officials from nine States, to speed up house completion and plan reforms for the scheme’s next phase. UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and MoS Kamlesh Paswan handed over house keys to beneficiaries.

The Viksit Bharat Buildathon 2025 has entered the Guinness World Records as the “Largest Innovation Solution Competition”, with 2,87,967 project submissions from across the country. The Education Ministry will felicitate 10 national-level winning teams in New Delhi today, PIB said.

Indian Railways  opened online applications for 1,265 Station Master posts under CEN No. 08/2026; any graduate can apply until 25 November. RRB Mumbai has the most vacancies (177), followed by Jammu-Srinagar (122) and Chennai (119).

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s vision, determination and leadership laid the foundation for India’s national unity and territorial integrity,   while addressing the 67th Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture virtually at Akash Vani Bhawan in New Delhi.

The Civil Aviation Ministry held its first fog preparedness meeting for the coming winter, chaired by Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha. IMD expects the fog season to run from 15 December 2026 to 15 February 2027; airports were told to keep ILS and RVR systems ready and airlines to roster low-visibility-qualified crew and inform passengers of delays in time.

The NHRC issued an advisory on ‘Women’s Safety at Work and Public Spaces’ to ten Union Ministries, the Railway Board chairperson, and all Chief Secretaries, covering eight key areas, and sought action-taken reports within two months. It noted women’s Labour Force participation of 34.6% in September 2026 against about 4.4 lakh crimes against women in the latest NCRB report.

The Zoological Survey of India has described a new deep-sea electric ray, Tetronarce Ramamurthy, named the Arabian Black Electric Ray, from the southeastern Arabian Sea — the first confirmed record of the genus in the northern Indian Ocean. The work, under the Deep Ocean Mission, is published in the journal Zootaxa.

TRAI data show India had 1,367.93 million telephone subscribers at the end of September 2026, with overall tele-density at 95.52%. Broadband subscribers, including M2M cellular connections, stood at 1,107.68 million, and 16.77 million mobile number portability requests were received during the month.

Under the Gyan Bharatam Mission, the Culture Ministry signed an MoU with the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris for digitization, digital access, technology exchange, conservation, and research on Indic-origin manuscripts. It was signed by Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal and BnF President Gilles Pécout.

Over 99.32 lakh names have been removed from Karnataka’s electoral rolls in the Special Intensive Revision, bringing the electorate down from 5.54 crore to 4.55 crore in the final roll. It has about 2.25 crore men, 2.29 crore women and 2,841 third-gender voters, including 6.83 lakh aged 18–19.

Telangana has officially declared drought in 365 of its 621 mandals (58.7%) across 31 districts — 111 severe and 254 moderates — for the kharif season; only Hyderabad and Peddapalli districts were spared.

Punjab and Haryana Bar Council elects 23-year-old lawyer Asmi unopposed, youngest ever State Bar Council member.  She has created history by becoming the youngest-ever member of a State Bar Council in the country and the first member from Generation Z to be elected to any State Bar Council.

Vande Bharat Sleeper train: Two new Vande Bharat sleeper trains will connect major cities in India and enhance overnight travel options. The Mumbai-Bengaluru service is set to launch on November 1, while the Delhi-Varanasi service is likely to start on October 31. Both services aim to significantly reduce travel times compared to existing options. Passengers should check the final schedules and train numbers before making travel plans.

A network outage of more than an hour at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Tuesday evening delayed 327 flights, forcing staff to switch to manual check-in. Operator MIAL said essential services continued.

ARNAB EFFECT:

 Andhra Pradesh & Yanam (Ground Zero)

• Mass Evacuations: The government has successfully evacuated 84,396 people into 290 designated relief camps across vulnerable coastal zones.

• High Alert: Extensively heavy downpours have battered 161 locations. A red alert remains active across 11 districts.

• Transit Disruptions: At least 21 commercial flights have been cancelled at Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam airports, and the South Coast Railway has suspended over 50 major train services. Emergency teams from the Navy and Coast Guard are fully deployed.

. A storm surge of 1.5–2.5 meters is expected over Kakinada and Yanam, and Great Danger Signal No. X is hoisted at Kakinada port.

 Odisha

• Shelter Mobilization: While the storm shifted south of the Odisha border, the state has prepped nearly 4,000 emergency shelters in its southern districts to handle the heavy peripheral rainfall.

WEST BENGAL:

Arnab--• Peripheral Influx: Though hundreds of kilometers away from the center, West Bengal's coastal regions (like Digha) are reporting heavy squally winds up to 60 kmph and rough seas.

• Rainfall Warnings: Moderate to heavy rainfall is active across South 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Kolkata, and Howrah, with landslide warnings issued for North Bengal's hilly terrains (Darjeeling and Kalimpong) through October 30.

Chief Minister Shuvendu Adhikari and the state cabinet are adjusting focus toward district governance.

Opposition All-Party Memorandum: Representatives from the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Congress, CPI(M), and CPI(ML) Liberation jointly submitted a memorandum to State Election Commissioner Krishna Gupta. A delegation scheduled a meeting today at 3:00 PM to demand that civic polls only happen after resolved appeals are incorporated into the rolls.

WORLD: (REUTER, AP, AFP, BLOOMBERG, CNN, WP)

President Droupadi Murmu received Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie of Liechtenstein at Rashtrapati Bhavan and hosted a banquet in their honor. She said the India-EFTA TEPA commitment to facilitate $100 billion of investment and 1 million direct jobs in India over 15 years gives a robust foundation for cooperation.

PM Narendra Modi met Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein; the two leaders reviewed progress under the India-EFTA Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA), which has completed its first year, and discussed ways to boost investment and economic cooperation.

Vice-President C.P. Radhakrishnan met a Russian parliamentary delegation led by State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin in New Delhi and expressed confidence that India and Russia will reach their target of $100 billion in annual trade by 2030. He also hosted a luncheon for BRICS presiding officers at Parliament.

The 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum concluded in New Delhi with an unanimously adopted Joint Declaration voicing deep concern over the escalation in West Asia, urging protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, condemning unilateral coercive measures, and backing reform of the UN, including the Security Council.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said in The Hague that India’s FTA talks with Chile are nearing conclusion and negotiations with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) have begun. India-China trade rose about 29% to $91.76 billion in April–September, making China India’s largest trading partner in the first half of 2026-27.

Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav reached Yerevan, Armenia, for the high-level segment of COP17 of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity — the first global review of progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. He will highlight India’s conservation achievements at bilateral and multilateral meetings.

India has invited Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Heritage and Culture, Aurangzeb Khan Khichi, to the inaugural SCO Civilizational Dialogue Forum in New Delhi from 20 to 22 November; Islamabad is yet to decide. The forum was proposed by PM Modi at the SCO summit in Tianjin in September 2025.

Exit polls after Israel’s Knesset election showed no clear winner: Gadi Eisenkot’s opposition bloc was projected at 52–53 seats and PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc at 50, both short of the 61 needed, with Arab-led parties at a record 17–18. Netanyahu’s Likud (24–25 seats) is projected as the largest party, ahead of Eisenkot’s Yashar (21–23). Turnout was the highest since at least 1973; results are expected by 30 October.

US First Lady Melania Trump announced that the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire she brokered for the occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky took effect at 4 am Moscow time on 27 October, two days ahead of schedule, and has been expanded within the Kherson region to give humanitarian convoys safe passage. About 1,700–2,000 mostly elderly residents remain in the city; Russian strikes continued elsewhere in Ukraine.

GULF WAR:

Russia’s President Putin hosted a forum for gas exporting countries in Moscow.

On the sidelines of the forum, Putin held meetings with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and Qatar’s Emir Shiekh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Pezeshkian said that the Middle East region could solve its own problems without the intervention of the US.

Iran said an oil tanker caught fire after hitting mines east of the Strait of Hormuz.

Fighting continued in Yemen, with both Saudi-backed coalition forces and the Houthis making claims of gains near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

The Saudi-led coalition’s spokesperson says in a post on X that air defenses have intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis towards Taif. Authorities also said that debris from two downed ballistic missiles fell over the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

LAW, CRIME & PUNISHMENT:

Supreme Court gave petitioners 10 days to file rejoinders to the Election Commission’s affidavit.   The Bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joy Malya Bagchi and V. Mohana also asked the EC to respond to TMC MP Dola Sen’s plea alleging changes to Form 6 in Bihar without the court’s approval.

The Supreme Court issued notice to Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi and others on a plea alleging that he pushed a pregnant journalist during the 12 October march to the apex court. The plea was mentioned before a Bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joy Malya Bagchi.

Hearing the Digital News Publishers Association’s challenge to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act and Rules, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Law and IT Ministries but refused an interim stay, saying a balance must be struck between press freedom and individual rights. DNPA argued newsrooms would shut if journalists needed prior consent; the case will be heard on 17 November.

A Supreme Court Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta slammed the Rajasthan government over illegal mining and pollution in the Jojari-Bandi-Luni river system and said it may order a CBI investigation. “Making 20 lakh people live in hell can’t be compared with your economic viability,” the Bench said, listing the case for 27 November.

Thirteen of the 17 undertrial prisoners who overpowered guards and escaped from the Thekkampatti sub-jail near Andipatti in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district on Monday night have been recaptured, and nine prison staff have been suspended. DMK chief M.K. Stalin attacked the TVK government over the jailbreak.

TWIN ENCOUNTERS IN KOLKATA:

Prahlad Das (23),was prime suspect in the brutal rape and murder of a 17-year-old Class XI schoolgirl in Gaighata.      He is shot dead in the early hours of Tuesday in the Bongaon police district (North 24 Parganas) after allegedly snatching a Sub-Inspector's revolver. An investigating officer was also injured.

Samaun Sheikh, was prime suspect in the murder and dismemberment of BJP worker Sujit Mondal two months ago. He is shot dead on Tuesday evening by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sleuths in the Old Dakbangla area of Samserganj, Murshidabad district.

MISHAPS: -

In Panipat, Haryana — A 21-year-old worker from Bihar, Rishu Charred to Death in Yarn Factory Fire, and another, Dhaneshwar, suffered 50% burns when a fire broke out around 3:40 am on Tuesday at the CRG Cotex yarn factory in the Shiv Nagar industrial area. A short circuit is suspected; narrow lanes hampered fire tenders.

In Mohali, Punjab — Refueling From Bottle Turns Fatal:  Pawan Singh (28) of Balongi died at PGI Chandigarh, ten days after his car caught fire while he was pouring petrol into it from a bottle with a lit cigarette in hand. Police urged people never to refuel from bottles or smoke near fuel.

ENVIRONMENTAL: -

Cyclonic Storm Arnab officially begun its landfall process along the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts. The eye of the storm is crossing the coastline near Narsapur and Yanam, bringing extreme rainfall, coastal surges, and destructive winds peaking between 125–135 kmph, with gusts up to 150 kmph.

The system is being monitored continuously by the Doppler Weather Radars at Machilipatnam and Visakhapatnam.

• Current Location: The core of Cyclone Arnab is positioned just 30 km east of Narsapur and 45 km south-southwest of Yanam.

• Landfall Timeline: The process commenced during the early morning hours of October 28 (between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM IST) and is expected to take up to 4 hours to fully move inland. IT MUST HAVE LANDED BY NOW.

• Future Trajectory: According to the IMD Forecast, the storm will sharply weaken over land within the next 36 hours. However, its remnants are projected to curve northward, potentially carrying heavy rain up toward Uttar Pradesh and Nepal.

CLIMATE:

A UNFCCC synthesis of 127 new national climate plans (NDCs) found that global greenhouse gas emissions will fall only 6% below 2019 levels by 2035 if current pledges are implemented — far off track from what is needed to limit warming.

EPIDEMIC:

Bangladesh’s dengue death toll this year has reached 400, with 11 deaths in a single day — the highest daily toll of 2026 — and total cases at 1,28,237. Deaths of children with confirmed or suspected measles have risen to 1,240.

GAMES & SPORTS

Abhishek Sharma smashed 113 off 38 balls, with a 35-ball century, as India chased 199 in just 13.2 overs to beat New Zealand by six wickets in the third T20I at Wellington and take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series

India began the men’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey with a 13-0 win over Bangladesh in Jalandhar, with Mandeep Singh scoring a hat-trick.

Kajal Dhochak (76 kg) and Neelam Sirohi (50 kg) became the first two Indian women to reach the finals at the same World Wrestling Championships. Kajal came back from 1-7 down to beat Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy 10-7 and will face Ukraine’s Anastasiya Alpyeyeva, while Neelam beat Kazakhstan’s Zeinep Bayanova 7-3 to set up a final against Japan’s Yui Susaki.

Aditya won India’s first gold of the World Under-19 Boxing Championships in Montenegro, beating Russia’s Islam Magomedov 4-1 in the 55 kg final. Harshika (65 kg) and Prachi Tokas (+80 kg) won bronze medals.

England captain Harry Kane won the 2026 men’s Ballon d’Or — the first Englishman since Michael Owen in 2001 — after scoring 73 goals for Bayern Munich, while Spain’s Alexia Putellas won the women’s award for the third time.

India’s men stormed into the semi-finals of the inaugural Commonwealth Kabaddi Championship in Ahmedabad with a 48-20 win over Tanzania, led by Neeraj Narwal’s 12 points.    .

DAS KAPITAL:

DALAL STREET:

Historical Listing: Reliance's Jio Platforms Ltd is scheduled to make its highly anticipated stock market debut on both the BSE and NSE today, October 28, 2026.

NSE Nifty 50 slipped marginally by 3.45 points (0.02%) to settle at 22,749.75.

BSE Sensex ended down 8.08 points (0.01%) at 73,598.67.

Despite the flat performance of frontline indices, broader markets outshined the benchmarks, with the BSE Small cap index surging 2.59% and the Midcap index ticking up roughly 1%.

BULLIONS:

CURRENCY:

GBP:₹127.02/-|EUR:₹106.36/-|USD:₹95.19/-|CNY:₹14.27/-

THE END.

 

 

SHLOKAM-1

 

 

“बन्धुरात्मात्मनस्तस्य येनात्मैवात्मना जितः ।

अनात्मनस्तु शत्रुत्वे वर्तेतात्मैव शत्रुवत्” ॥ ६ ॥

BHAGABAD GEETA—CHAPTER 6, VERSE-6

TRANSLATION (BY ME): "For those who have conquered the mind, it is their finest friend. But for those who have failed to do so, the mind remains the greatest enemy."

 

श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुण: परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् |

स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेय: परधर्मो भयावह: ||

This  verse appear twice in GEETA—first in Chapter 3, Verse 35 and later reiterated in Chapter 18, Verse 47

Explanation: Lord Krishna teaches Arjuna that being successful  in an artificial, copied life leaves the soul completely hollow. Conversely, following your own true path brings genuine spiritual evolution and peace.

MAHABHARAT

https://youtu.be/1LI3WazQdFA?si=ruA-oiWslcHCT5I8

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः| तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं ||

भर्गो देवस्यः धीमहि| धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ||

“गायत्री मंत्र”

Honours the Source of Life—SUN. Focus on the Intellect (Dhiyo). A Collective Prayer (Nah). These are the three aspects of ‘Gayatri’ Mantra.

इन्द्रं मित्रं वरुणमग्निमाहुरथो दिव्यः स सुपर्णो गरुमान् ।

एकं सद्विप्रा बहुधा वदन्त्यग्निं यमं मातरिष्वानमाहुः ॥ (Rigveda 1.164.46)

• Meaning:

Reality or the ultimate truth is one, though wise and learned people describe or address it through different names and paths.